Ten steps to create, launch and grow your online store

Building and launching an online store is not as easy as it sounds. It is not just about getting a domain and making the website live; it’s a lot more than that, If you want to build an eCommerce website that grows with time, you need to plan and proceed in an organized way. Here we will be sharing a step-by-step guide on not only how you can smartly build and launch the site but also grow it into something big.

Know your product and audience well: Whether you are an experienced business trying to expand through the online medium or a startup, you need to know your product well. The online market is a different game, and customer choices vary slightly compared to the brick and mortar stores. Moreover, the target audience can also differ as online buying is more prevalent among youngsters than other age groups. So should thoroughly study these two things first.

Analyze your competitors: The next step is to analyze your most significant competitors in the market. Study them well, right from the design of their site to the products, pricing, shipping and more. Try to find out what your competitors are good at and incorporate it into your website. But most importantly find out the loopholes, shortcomings, or something you didn’t like and wanted to improve. This could be a potential differentiator in the game and will provide an extra competitive edge.

Select your eCommerce platform: The next crucial step is to choose the right platform to power your online business. Select a solution that is easy to use, pocket-friendly, customizable, scalable and most importantly, secure. Many online stores are choosing PrestaShop as their eCommerce platform due to the benefits mentioned above. You can easily find a PrestaShop developer who can make the launch easy for you. However, preferences differ from business to business, so write down your unique needs and then select the platform accordingly.

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Choose the right template: The design is an essential element that can break or make your online business. Therefore, you must choose a simple, easy to navigate template and offer a great customer experience. Instead of focusing on attractive elements, choose a design where your product is the hero. Moreover, select a template that is fully responsive, SEO optimized and easily customizable.

Select the payment gateway: A right payment gateway helps you accept payments easily and plays a huge role in building customer trust. But choosing the right one for your business can be a bit confusing. It would help if you focused on secure, easy to integrate, offers a simple checkout process, and has excellent customer support. Every eCommerce platform, including PrestaShop supports specific payment gateways. You can take advice from a PrestaShop developer to find the one that suits your needs the most.

Get your shipping and taxes right: Once you’ve integrated the payment gateway, the next step is to get the shipping process simplified and find your business’s right shipping partners. Try to make the shipping policies simple, offer free shipping above specific orders, or flat shipping charges, as this will help you increase your chances of making a sale. At the same time, work on your order fulfilment process so that you can convert first-time buyers into loyal customers. Then try to get a tax-id and understand the tax structure, as this will be an essential thing once you start making sales.

Set up Google Analytics for your store:Every online store thrives on data; therefore, you also need it for your business. Hire an expert who can set up Google Analytics so that you can easily find unique visitors, popular products, conversion rate, average time spend, revenue and other details. Establish the KPIs that you want to track during the initial stages and segment the data accordingly.

Launch: Once you’re done with the above-mentioned steps, you’ll be ready to launch your website. Book a domain that correctly defines your products and business. In case, you already have an offline business, try sticking to the same name on the online medium as well.

Market your store:After a successful launch, the next step is to make the world know about it. Therefore you should start marketing your store as soon as possible. This will help you to generate traffic to your store, which might eventually convert into sales. You can market your store through social media, e-mail, messages, paid promotions and much more.

Content and SEO strategy: To make your business growing you need to have a strong content marketing and SEO strategy. You can launch a blog to educate readers about your store. Moreover, try to improve organic traffic, focus on genuine link building as these will go a long way to making your business thrive.

Conclusion
The ten-point guide will be a great way to approach the launch of your eCommerce store professionally. It will not only make the launch easy but also help you to grow a profitable store eventually. In case, you are looking for assistance regarding the same, hire a PrestaShop developer from our organization.